Mechanical toy



' S. WARD MECHANICAL TOY July 9, 1940.

Filed June 26, 1939 ATTORNEYS Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE a r 2,206,987 MECHANICAL TOY I I Sterling Ward, St. Joseph, Mo.{Application June 26, 1939, Serial No. 281,105

' 50mi s. (c1. 4c-107) This invention relates to improvements inmechanical toys and has for itsprincipal'object, the provision of amechanical toy mounted on wheels and provided with a movable ball andmeans 5 actuated as saidwheels are rotated to change the position ofsaid ball relative to its supporting standard.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, efiiciency ofoperation, and adaptability for use with various'forms of standards;

With these, as well: as other objects, which will appear during the.course of the specification in view, reference will now .be had to thedrawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevationof a mechanical toy embodying thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the toy; and,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken on line IIIl1Iof Fig. 2, with certain of the parts shown in dotted lines to indicatecertain actions of the movable parts.

Throughout the several views, like reference characters refer to similarparts and the numeral l8 designates a body member mounted on a pair of 5drive wheels l2, rigidly mounted on axle l4, having an offset centralcrank portion 16. Axle I4 is mounted for rotation in depending bearingssecured to the underside of body member l6.

- A wheel l8 mounted in bracket 28 serves to 30 support the front endbody member III, to maintain it in substantially parallel relation withthe floor. Hingedly attached to the front end of body member ID, bymeans of screw-eyes 22, is a suitable handle 24, by means of which thetoy may be pushed or pulled over the floor.

A standard 26 having a detent 28 is adapted to be removably secured tobody member In by inserting the detent 28 into a hole 30, formed in saidbody member. This standard is formed to represent the form of a cat orcould be altered to represent any desired figure. Referring to Fig. 2-,

it will be noted that standard 26 is made of three members, 32, 34 and36, of sheet material matched in form and having a portion of the innersheet 34 cut away to present a center recess 38 which extends from thebottom edge to the opposite sides respectively, of the standard belowthe top portion thereof.

For convenience of operation, the. standard 26 is preferably centered ona line perpendicular to body member ID, that passes through the axis ofaxle l4. Similar arms 48 and 42 are pivoted respectively at oppositesides of the center line of standard 26 by means of pins 44 withtheirlower end portions 46 resting against a centrally disposed stopmember 48, and their outer ends'extending outwardly beyond said standard26, as clearly shown'inFig. 3. It is very evident that these arms, will,due to the action of gravity,

maintaintheir relative relation until acted upon by some outside force.

An oscillatory member 56comprising an arm 52 and a ball 54, is pivotallymounted by means of the offset end portion 56 of arm 52, passing intohole 58 formed in standard 26 on its center line; 10 The oscillatorymember is so constructed that whenit is thus pivoted the ball 54 carriedby the free end of arm 52, will be resting on the outer end portion ofone of the arms 46 or 42.

.It, is one of the objects of this invention to 16 transfer the ballfrom one side to the other side of the standard, to rest on therespective arms. This transfer of the position of the ball, is obtainedas the toy is moved along the floor by the following mechanism. 20

An arm 60 pivoted intermediate its ends at 62 extends into recess 38 andis provided with a resilient member, such as a flat spring 64,'which,when oscillated, contacts the lower end portions 46 of arms 40 and 42 ina manner hereinafter 25 described.

The lower end of arm 60 is bifurcated at 66 and positioned to straddlethe crank portion l6 of axle l4 so that as the Wheels are rotated, therotating crank will cause the arm 60 to oscillate 30 through apredetermined are, thus moving spring 64. The driving action of spring64 is as follows:

In Fig. 3 it will be considered that the toy is being pushed in thedirection indicated by the arrow and the crank I6 is causing the upperend 35 of arm 66 to move in a clockwise direction. During. the largerportion of the oscillation in the direction, the spring is beingenergized because the free end thereof rests against the arm at 46 untilit reaches a position where it can be released, past the end of arm 40.The end portions of arms 48 and 42 arespaced apart so that theenergizedspring 64 will strike the lower end 46 of arm 42 and impart a quickmovement thereto, thus, forcing ball 54to oscillate about point 56 sothat 45 the ball will be transferred to the opposite side of thestandard and rest on arm 46, as shown in dotted lines. The arm 42 willreturn to the normal position, due to gravity, and the lower portion 46thereof, will move past spring 64 so that the 5 spring will be inposition to oscillate arm 40, as the toy is moved in the same direction.By this means it will be noticed that the ball will make a full cycle ateach full revolution of the wheels I2.

While a flat spring has been shown and de- 55 scribed, whereby a quickmovement has been imparted to the arms 40 and 42, yet it is apparentthat other equivalent means, such as weights or other forms of springactuated means, might be substituted without departing. from the spiritof the invention.

The toy may be moved in either direction to obtain the same generaleffects, also various effects may be obtained by making slight changesin the standard design.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A mechanical toy comprising a base member mounted on wheels; astandard carried.byx said base member; a pair of oppositely disposedarms pivotally mounted on said standard; and

a single oscillating lever energized-as said wheels. are rotated wherebysaid arms are successivelyv and rapidly moved.

2. A mechanical toy comprising a base member mounted on wheels; astandard carriedby said base member; a pair of oppositely disposed armspivotally mounted in said standard and extending therebeyond; apivotedmembercar-' ried by said standard with a portion thereof adapted to bemoved from a position on one of said arms to a similar position on theother of said arms; and resilient means energized as said Wheels arerotated, operable to successively'impart rapid movement to said armswhereby said pivoted member is shifted from one arm to the other.

3. A mechanical toy comprising a standard;

wheels supporting said standard; a pair of arms pivoted for oscillationto said standard and extending in opposite directions, respectivelytherefrom; means to limit the oscillatory movements of said arms; apivotally mounted member adapted to be oscillated about the upper end ofsaid standard; and means operated by said wheels as they are rotated toenergize a flat spring and cause it to be released to successivelyoperate said arms and cause said pivotally mounted member to beoscillated about said standard.

4. A mechanical toy comprising a standard mountedon wheels; a pair ofoppositely disposed arms pivotally carried by said standard andextending outwardly therefrom; an arm secured at I its one end to saidstandard and having a memher at its free end; and a single oscillatinglever pivotally. mounted intermediate its ends and adapted to beenergized as said wheels are rotated to impart a rapid movement to saidball whereby it-is moved from one side to the other side of saidstandard.

5. A mechanical toy comprising a base member; a pair of base; supportingwheels rigidly securedto an-axle having an offset crank; astand a d sortadmn sa d b e; a i of arms. votally mounted; on said standard andextending outwardly; therefrom at opposite sides of the standard;anoscillatory arm pivoted at its one end to said standard; a membersecured: to the free endof; said oscillatory arm and adapted. to rest;on one of-saidfirst; named arms; an operatinglever-pivotedzintermediate-its ends to said standardwithits oneendportion engaging said axle crank andsits other end providedwith aflat spring to engagesaidlpair ofarms, whereby as said crank is rotated,said arms Will be successively moved to cause said member to move fromone side to the other side ofsaid standard;

STERLING WARD.

